dell

Carl Icahn, Jefferies nab $5.2B to finance Dell deal -- report

Activist investor Carl Icahn, along with his partner Jefferies & Co., have secured billions in financing for their Dell bid, a new report claims.

The investors have secured $5.2 billion in loans from several banks and institutional investors, Reuters is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the deals. Those funds will help Icahn and company finance their Dell buyout proposal.

According to Reuters' sources, the $5.2 billion includes a 6-year loan worth $2.2 billion, as well as a 3.5-year loan for $3 billion. The sum is part of a much broader plan on … Read more

Despite Windows 8.1, PC market prospects aren't pretty

Windows 8.1 may fix Microsoft's dot-zero release but it may not fix the PC market.

After Citi Research revised its PC market growth forecast down to negative 10 percent growth earlier in the month, market researcher IDC chimed in on Friday with a less-than-upbeat snapshot for May.

"May results reflect deteriorating conditions rather than improvement and the market will probably fall short of projections," said Loren Loverde, an IDC analyst in a statement, referring to May regional PC shipments.

"The results for May are behind pace for achieving the projected [second quarter 2013] growth rate,&… Read more

Dell special committee says Icahn bid lacks credibility

Activist investor Carl Icahn's bid for Dell lacks credibility, the computer maker's board said in a regulatory filing Monday.

The comments echo remarks made last week by the group managing Dell's efforts to go private. At that time, the board rejected the latest takeover proposal put forth by Icahn as lacking key details necessary for its approval.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday, the board said that Icahn "has failed to provide any of the key provisions and mechanics" of letters he sent on May 9 or June 18, as requested by … Read more

Carl Icahn joins Twitter with a funny plea for Dell

As the battle between activist investor Carl Icahn and Dell's board heats up, Icahn has joined Twitter.

So what? Well, his first tweet is a funny jab -- or plea -- signaling his desire to takeover Dell.

Twitter is great. I like it almost as much as I like Dell.

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) June 20, 2013 Icahn, who is a billionaire, is known for shaking up certain corporations by buying up lots of shares and then demanding they do things his way.

Take Dell, for example. Icahn publicly opposed the idea of taking the company private via a $24.4 billion buyout, … Read more

More 8-inch Android tablets on the way, says analyst

Android tablets have largely been a 7- or 10-inch affair to date, but 8 inches could be the new sweet spot, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Dell and Lenovo are among the tablet makers preparing 8-inch Android tablets, according to a blog post Tuesday from NPD DisplaySearch.

Supply chain indications point to production of Android-based tablet PCs with 8-inch, 1,280x800 displays in Q3'13 [third-quarter 2013]. Brands including Acer, Asus, Dell and Lenovo are expected...Initial panel production plans suggest that the 8-inch tablets will make up between 5 to 10% of the total tablet PC market by the end … Read more

Dell special committee slams new Icahn plan as incomplete

The special committee of Dell's board managing the computer maker's effort to go private rejected the latest takeover proposal put forth Tuesday by activist investor Carl Icahn as lacking key details necessary for its approval.

Earlier Tuesday, Icahn proposed in a letter to shareholders that Dell buy back 1.1 billion shares at $14 as an alternative to the plan to take the company private proposed by company founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners. Icahn also announced that he had purchased 72 million Dell shares from proxy fight partner Southeastern Asset Management, making him the second largest … Read more

Microsoft's new ad: Even Dell tablets are better than iPad

Microsoft is not going to stop until iPad sales go down to zero.

It's not going to stop until there are no iPads left in the world.

Because this is payback and war and so many other cliches of aggression that companies are fond of exhuming.

In its second assault on the iPad released Thursday, Microsoft tries to explain very quietly that even a Dell tablet is better than an iPad.

Just as in the first ad of this phase, Redmond is using Siri's measured tones to show how a Windows tablet measures up to an iPad. This time it's the Dell XPS 10. … Read more

Dell powers up three new Alienware gaming laptops

Dell has beefed up its Alienware series with three new laptops equipped with some seriously high-end specs.

Unveiled on Tuesday at the E3 show in Los Angeles, the Alienware 14, Alienware 17, and Alienware 18 are designed for hard-core gamers who need laptops packed with lots o' power.

Starting at $1,199, the Alienware 14 offers a 14-inch screen (1,366x768 or 1,920x1,080 resolution), as much as 16GB of RAM, and up to a 512GB solid-state hard drive. Starting at $1,499, the Alienware 17 is equipped with a 17.3-inch screen with a resolution as high as … Read more

Dire warnings for PCs, Windows 8 -- this time from Citi

Citi Research is revising its forecast for negative PC growth as it paints a dark picture of the incredible shrinking PC market.

Citi is cutting 2013 PC year-to-year growth to negative 10 percent from negative 4 percent growth, according to a note to investors late Friday.

"The Citi global technology team is revising down its 2013 PC growth estimate to -10% y/y (from -4%) based on further sub-seasonal demand" in the first quarter and slowing notebook production.

In a section titled "Y/Y Growth in 2H? Don't Think So," Citi says that despite investor … Read more